


Inferno's Edge Oneshots

by actress4Him



Series: Daughter of Darkness [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fire, Fluff and Angst, Haircuts, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actress4Him/pseuds/actress4Him
Summary: A series of oneshots to go along with the second book of the Daughter of Darkness series, Inferno's Edge.Chapter 7 - Lea’s perspective of what happened at Yen Sid's tower
Relationships: Riku (Kingdom Hearts)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Daughter of Darkness [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575001
Comments: 7
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Welcome to the first oneshot for Inferno's Edge. Today we have Riku's haircut, requested by FFN user Nevquariel. It's mostly fluff, but because it's me there's a sprinkling of angst. Also, I randomly decided to do this one in third person and then struggled against myself the whole time because I'm so used to first person now.
> 
> I would imagine that this takes place not long after the last chapter of Sorrow's Promise, before the two scenes where they talk about parallel universes that were in Sorrow's Promise oneshots. I waited to post this one, though, because it is very mildly spoiler-y for Inferno's Edge. Enjoy!

**Bonus chapter 4**

(Falls just after book 1)

_Riku's perspective_

“So, how short are you wanting to go?” Meli flipped a navy blue towel around in front of Riku and settled it around his shoulders, then picked up another identical one to cover his back. “Are we talking a trim, or a buzz cut, or somewhere in between...?”

Riku laughed. “Well, definitely more than a trim. I'm not positive what a 'buzz cut' is, but based on the way it sounds I'm gonna say no.”

“Good, because I think I'd have to shoot you if you said you wanted me to shave off all this gorgeousness.” Running her fingers up through his hair, she fluffed it out a few times, sending a shiver down his spine to combat the heat rising into his cheeks.

“I honestly haven't thought about it too much. Shorter than Sora's, I think? And definitely not as...spiky.” Meli gave a little laugh at that, continuing to gently comb through his hair with her fingers. He found himself relaxing into the sensation, almost tempted to let his eyes drift shut. “Maybe a little longer in the front than in the back?”

“So, like a reverse mullet?” Despite not knowing what she was talking about, he could tell by her tone she was teasing. Before he could question her, though, she waved a hand in his peripheral vision. “Never mind. Are we keeping the bangs?”

Riku stopped to consider before answering. “Yeah, I think so. Definitely a little shorter, though.”

A small hand came around to his forehead and shoved said bangs up out of the way, before letting them flop back down into place. He couldn't help but be reminded of the time she had done the same thing in the mansion, one of the first times she had deliberately touched him. “Yeah. I agree with you there.”

“I had a feeling you would.”

She came around to stand in front of him, studying him from a couple of different angles, occasionally reaching out to play with a section of hair. “Okay. I think...I think I have an idea.” Crossing her arms suddenly, she twisted her lips to the side. “I'm nervous, though. I've never...actually cut anyone's hair besides mine.” She snorted, shifting her eyes away. “Aiden didn't trust me enough to do his.”

Lifting his arm carefully so as not to disturb his towel cape, he grasped her elbow and squeezed gently. She shook her head slightly and smiled at him. “Sorry. I'm okay.” For once he actually believed her. The usual sparkle in her eyes was still there, not overtaken by the shadow of old memories. “Anyway, I don't have any experience on other people, and I'm still not super familiar with the styles over here. Are you sure you want me to do this?”

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation. “I do. I have faith in you, you're gonna do great.”

Meli took a deep breath, staring at him, then let it out in a whoosh. “Okay. As long as you're sure.”

She got to work right away, first trimming the pieces that framed his face to be around chin length – with an adorable expression of concentration, he noted – then moving back behind him and spraying water on the remainder. To start with the only sound was the soft _snick_ of the scissors. Riku didn't speak, not wanting to break her focus. But eventually, she seemed to relax into the work, and started up a conversation herself. They flitted around to a variety of subjects, Meli telling him a few more stories of things that had happened in the previous two weeks while he had been missing, and Riku filling in his own stories in between. It had been years since anyone but him had messed with his hair, and he decided he rather liked it. The soft tugs and the scrape of the comb across his scalp, combined with the warm sun overhead, were nearly enough to put him to sleep, had the company not been so riveting.

After some time, once a decent pile of silver tufts had accumulated in the grass around his chair and Meli had finished styling the back and top of his head to her liking, she reappeared in front of him and bent down to work on his bangs. “I can't wait to actually be able to see your eyes properly,” she smiled.

“It's been a while since you've cut yours, hasn't it?” He hadn't been paying attention before, but he noticed now that the normally close-cropped side had gotten a good bit longer since she was traveling with Sora. “Are you thinking of growing it out, or just haven't had time?”

Meli pressed her lips into a thin line, eyes still focused on his bangs. “Thinking of growing it out,” she answered after a moment.

He resisted the urge to furrow his eyebrows, not wanting to mess her up. “That wasn't a very confident answer. What made you decide that?”

Sighing, she straightened up and bit down on the corner of her lip. “Um...there's...” The hand that wasn't holding the scissors went up and rested on the back of her neck. “I just...I don't want...”

Realization dawned across his expression. “Your scars.”

She winced a little, gripping her neck tighter until he was afraid her fingernails might be digging in. “Yeah. I wasn't...planning on growing my hair out this soon, but...I wanna cover them up.”

Without warning, he snatched her by the waist and pulled her into his lap, eliciting a squeak out of her. “Have I told you that you're beautiful?” He pressed a kiss right onto the first branch of scarring that peeked out from under her collar. “Every little bit of you.” The next one got a kiss, as well. “Including the scarred parts.” He kissed the final visible mark, lingering a little longer on that one.

When he looked back up into Meli's face, there were tears glistening in her eyes and she was red all around her ears, but she was smiling. “You're so cheesy, you know that?” She dropped her own kiss onto the tip of his nose. “And I love you for it. But now you've gotten hair all over the place.” With a wave of her hand, she indicated the tiny pieces that had scattered from his askew towel onto both of their clothes.

“I don't care.” He kissed her again, on the mouth this time, unwilling to resist the draw of her skin now that he had begun. “But seriously.” Looking her right in the eyes, now without a fringe of hair in his way for the first time ever, he made sure she was paying attention before continuing. “I think you should do whatever you want with your hair. If you really want to grow it out, that's great. It will look just as beautiful as it does now. But if you don't want to, then don't. No one who matters is gonna care about your scars. The important thing is that you're happy with the way you look. If that means having short hair, keep it short. If that means covering your scars, then go for it.” His mouth quirked up to the side. “Deal?”

For a moment she just looked back at him, then gave a little nod and a smile. “Deal.” She pried herself off of his lap, much to his chagrin. “Now can I finish your bangs?”

“Fine,” he groaned dramatically.

A few more snips was all it took for her to be satisfied. “Okay. I think...” Standing back, she surveyed her work, chewing anxiously at her lip. “I think you're done. Do you...wanna see?”

He shook his head around, trying to get used to not being able to feel his hair brushing his shoulders. It was strange. But it had been time for a change – new season of life, new hair. It felt a bit like the weight of the past few years of darkness had been chopped off and left behind. “Yeah, let's see it!”

After shaking out the towels and dusting off their clothes, Meli followed Riku back into his house and to the bathroom. She stood a bit behind him as he took in his appearance in the mirror, her hands clasped in front of her mouth. “Don't you dare lie to me,” she ordered after a few seconds of silence. “I mean obviously I can't help it if it's too short, but if there's anything you don't like you have to tell me so I can try to fix it. You can't just say you like it because I'm the one who did it, you have to be hon–”

“I like it.” He cut her off mid-ramble, putting down the hand mirror he had used to see the back of his hair and turning to face her. “I really do, I promise. It's going to take a little bit of getting used to it being this short, but this is exactly what I had in mind...except better, because I couldn't picture it perfectly.”

Meli tucked her still-clasped hands underneath her chin. “You're sure?”

He smiled. “Do you really think I'd lie to you?”

“Mmm...”

Groaning in play exasperation, he pulled her into a hug by her shoulders. “Come here, you. You did great. I love it.”

She sighed into his chest. “Good. Because I do, too. I mean, the long hair was pretty attractive, not gonna lie...minus the bangs...but this is like, more mature, I think. And hot.”

Riku chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Well, I'm in good company, then.”

Tipping her head back, she peered up into his face with a smile. “Should we go show your mom?”

He couldn't resist planting one last kiss onto her forehead. “Yep. Let's go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late post! I helped move almost my entire house into a truck today. Almost. We ran out of time and room so there’s more to go in the morning. I’m beyond exhausted! So you get a not so informative note tonight, because I don’t remember who requested this and don’t feel like looking it up. I think it was Nevquariel. Anyway, this is just some fun fluff that takes place in between books 1 and 2. Enjoy!

**Bonus Chapter 5**

(Falls between books 1 and 2)

_Meli's perspective_

“Okay, so what is it we're watching, again?”

“We haven't decided.” Kairi plopped down onto the floor in front of the shelf of DVDs with a huff. “I think we should watch 'Always and Forever', but the boys are voting for 'Blazing Fury'.” She pulled each of the cases off the shelf and waved them as she spoke.

I took in the dimmed lights of the basement, the cozy couch in front of the tv, and had a fantastically mischievous idea. “Oh, I definitely think I'm in the mood for something romantic.”

Brightening, Kairi slid the second case back into place. “Perfect! We can watch their dumb shoot 'em up movie another night.”

“Wait a minute,” Sora whined, laying over the back of the couch. “That's a tie vote! That doesn't decide anything!”

“Yes, ha ha, you two don't get to outvote me on everything anymore. Girl power.” She held up her hand for a high five, which I readily gave, before busying herself putting the disc into the player. “But anyway, Meli is the one we're doing this for, so she gets to decide.”

I looked down my nose at Sora. “Yeah, I get to decide.” He stuck out his tongue at me, and I laughed and rolled my eyes. “What are you, six? Besides, Grim doesn't know it yet, but he agrees with me on my choice.”

“Huh?” Riku looked up from the mini fridge where he was pulling out sodas for everyone. “I do?”

“Yep. You do.” I elbowed him as he handed me my drink, jerking my head toward the other two. “Romance is just what we need.”

His eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh. Yeah, you're right. Good choice.”

Sora groaned dramatically and half flipped, half fell over the back of the couch and onto the cushions. “Fine.”

Kairi paused, remote in her hand, to stare and me and Riku with pursed lips. “You two are weird,” she declared finally, and headed toward the adjacent armchair.

“No, no! Sit over here with us!” It came out a little too frantic, and Kairi gave me another strange look, but she listened and came back to the couch.

“Are you sure? It's gonna be kinda cramped...”

“It'll be fine. Grim can sit here...” I prodded Riku down into the corner next to the arm, then quickly sat down next to him and shoved Sora's head up off the seat toward the other arm. “And you can sit right here in between me and Sora!”

“And we have two bowls of popcorn, so we'll share one and you two can share the other,” Riku put in, handing out said bowls.

“See? Perfect!”

Kairi shrugged and settled into place. “Alright, that's fine. I don't mind if you guys don't.”

Riku and I both adamantly assured her of our happiness with the arrangement, but I noticed Sora didn't say anything. If we were lucky, he was already starting to freak out inwardly from Kairi's proximity.

The movie seemed to be a pretty typical Hallmark-type love story – boy meets girl, mutual pining, lots of flirting, the super hot ex-boyfriend shows up at some point to make things confusing for the girl. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I had not been so focused on the love story I was trying to make happen next to me. It took Kairi a while before she actually started reaching into the bowl for pinches of popcorn, and even then she seemed to purposefully be avoiding doing so at the same time as Sora.

At some point, maybe halfway into the movie, I noticed that while Kairi's leg was pressed up against mine, there was a couple of inches of space in between her and Sora. I leaned over and whispered in Riku's ear. “We need an excuse to scoot over.”

He glanced over, saw what I was seeing, then seemed to assess his own position before starting to squirm a bit. “You okay, babe?” I asked aloud.

“Uh, yeah...just a little crushed against the side of the couch, that's all.”

“Hey, you guys have any more room to spare over there?”

“Oh.” Kairi looked down at the gap only briefly before moving over to fill it. “Yeah, sure.” I quickly followed her so that she couldn't come back.

“Thanks.” Riku readjusted himself, and he and I shared a smirk covered by the near-darkness.

The movie continued on, and I found myself actually paying a little more attention, wondering which guy the girl would choose even though the answer was obvious. My focus was split again, however, when Sora bent forward and placed their now-empty popcorn bowl on the floor, then sat back up, stretched his arms over his head, and let his right arm drape over the back of the couch behind Kairi's head. I could nearly hear her heart speed up from the way she tensed, and couldn't help the grin that broke out on my face. I had to turn and bury my mouth into Riku's shoulder to keep from bursting into giggles.

“You okay?” Kairi whispered.

“Yeah, yeah...sorry.” I forced the corners of my mouth down and glanced up at the screen. “Kissing in the rain scenes always get to me.”

She sighed dreamily. “I know. Me, too.”

_Take notes, Sora. You need to kiss this girl in the rain at some point._ I'd be thrilled if we could even get them to hug without threatening to spontaneously combust, honestly.

As soon as the movie was done, I pushed myself up off the couch. “That was nice, I enjoyed it. Grim was saying that he had to leave right after the movie was over, so I'm just gonna, you know, walk him out and say goodbye. I'll see you upstairs, Kai...whenever you're done. Down here. Take your time.” Grabbing Riku's hand, I practically yanked him up and toward the stairs.

“Smooth,” Riku snickered when we were out of earshot.

“Shut up.”

When I heard Kairi's footsteps on the stairs a while later, I opened the door to my room and smiled at her. “Did you enjoy the evening?”

She smiled back. “Yeah, I did. Did you?”  
  


“Mm-hm. Did you and Sora have anything interesting to, uh, talk about after we left?”

Pressing her lips together, she shrugged. “Not really. Just talked about some homework assignments and stuff.”

I barely kept myself from groaning and facepalming. “Yeah, okay. I'm gonna go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow.”

_Those two._ I leaned against the door after I had shut it, rolling my eyes. Boy met girl, and they definitely had the mutual pining down. Try as I might, though, I couldn't seem to get them to enter the flirting stage, much less anything after it. Too bad Kairi didn't have a super hot ex-boyfriend to come along and finally make them realize how they felt about each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys, it's time to get back on board the angst train for the next few weeks. We're getting into the Inferno's Edge related oneshots now, though at least one more fluffy request will happen eventually. Today we have the panic attack on Meli's birthday from Riku's perspective. Nevquariel requested this one, as well, though it was already on my list to write.

**Chapter 10 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 10)

_Riku's perspective_

“Anyway, I hope you like it. Or, will like it, once it's finished. I promise I'll finish it really soon.”

I was well aware that my nervousness over this bike had been making me ramble for the past few minutes, but I still didn't stop until Meli's arms were around my neck. “I love it,” she declared. “Even in pieces. Though I think it'll be a little easier to ride once it has two wheels.”

Relief relaxed my shoulders, and I smiled as I snagged her by the waist. “Really? You really do?”

“Of course!” She raised up on her toes to kiss my lips. “How could I not like such a sweet, thoughtful gift? I've almost got the hang of the whole riding thing, too, so now I'll be ready to roll with you guys.”

Her enthusiasm seemed honest, and I relaxed even more. “Yeah! Then we can all ride to school together, or to the beach, or wherever. Come on, I'll show you what I still have to do.” Grabbing her by the hand, I tugged her over toward the unfinished purple bike, then stooped down next to it.

“I had to take this wheel off because the rim was bent. That's one thing that ended up taking a while, trying to straighten that out. I think I've almost got it, so that I won't have to buy a whole new one, but I need to replace a few of the spokes, too. The other thing –”

I was interrupted by Meli doubling over forward with a sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a groan. Immediately I got up on my knees and reached out toward her, but before I could even ask what was wrong she tumbled to the ground, my hand barely catching her head in time to keep it from smacking into the concrete full force. She writhed, arms still clutching her stomach, and cried out in a way that made my blood freeze. It sounded far too much like that awful moment in the Castle That Never Was. I had never wanted to hear her in that much pain again.

“Meli! Meli, what is it, what's wrong?” My hands hovered above her, not sure whether I should touch, not wanting to hurt her even more. “Talk to me, baby, what hurts?”

“No. No, please...don't...”

I swallowed hard. “Don't what? What is –?”

Her eyes flew open, staring straight up at the ceiling, and her mouth gaped wide though her breath seemed to only be coming in short gasps. Tears were pouring down her cheeks.

“Hey, hey, you need to breathe, it's okay...” I tried to card my fingers through her hair like I had so many times before, but this time she jerked away like she had been burned. My hand retracted quickly, and I stared in growing fear. _Something is very wrong. What is happening?_

That's when I noticed the glazed look of panic in her eyes. I had been focused on pain, but I was suddenly struck with the realization that her mind was somewhere far away from here. _A flashback_ , some random corner of my brain supplied. I didn't know for sure if that was the right term or not, but it was almost like she was having a waking nightmare.

“Meli, it's okay, you're safe.” I laid my hand on her arm, but she reacted just as violently as with the hair, curling herself into a ball and covering her head with both of her arms. She had not yet made another verbal sound since her weak plea, but her hyperventilating breaths were growing louder and more desperate, almost like sobs.

I didn't know what to do. As many nightmares as I had dealt with myself, I had never seen anything like this before, and I had no idea how to help her. For a moment I just sat, watching her with wide, watery eyes, complete helplessness and horror keeping me in place. _What do I do? What do I do?_ I couldn't stand seeing her like this. _Maybe I should go get help._ But from whom? My mom was the only one nearby, and I didn't see her knowing how to deal with this, either. Besides, there was no way I could leave Meli alone like this.

Finally, in an act of pure desperation, I jumped over her prone figure and laid down on the cold, hard floor behind her, and proceeded to wrap her up as tightly as I could in as many places as I could. _She needs to know I'm here._ That's all I could think of to do, let her know that I was there and she was safe. “I'm here, Meli. I'm here. It's me, Grim. You're safe.”

She flailed as hard as she could, trying to get away, and I almost reconsidered and pulled back. Instead, I curled even further over her, my forehead pressing into the top of her head and my legs folded over hers, trying to keep her from hurting herself.

“It's okay, you're okay!” I kept repeating the same few phrases over and over again in whatever random order they happened to spill out, pleading inwardly with her to come back to me. Still she struggled against me, panting so rapidly that I was afraid she would end up passing out.

“Meli! Meli, I'm here! It's me, it's Grim. Listen to me. You're alright. I'm here.”

Suddenly she stopped. I could feel her trembling all over beneath me, but the kicking and pushing came to a halt, and her breathing quieted ever so slightly. I almost stopped, too, not wanting to jinx the progress, but forced myself to keep up my mantra at a whisper. “It's alright. You're safe. You're right here with me.”

Her muscles were still completely tense, but it felt like we had maybe gotten through the worst of it, especially as her breaths seemed to slow bit by bit over the next few minutes. Then I glanced down and saw her picking furiously at the skin around one of her fingernails with her teeth, leaving traces of blood behind.

“Hey, stop that, you'll hurt yourself.” I clutched her fingers and gently, despite her resistance, pulled her hand back down.

She shook me off, but didn't go back to biting. Instead, a moment later, she was grabbing onto my wrist and shoving it backwards away from her waist, mumbling something that I mostly couldn't understand but that ended in “sick”.

I let her go, realizing that she was trying to get up, but scrambled quickly to my feet after her and followed her closely as she just barely managed to make it out the door before bringing up her lunch. Using both hands, I brushed her hair back out of her face, and this time she didn't seem to mind.

“You're okay. It's gonna be okay.”

She retched for quite some time, but eventually straightened with effort and stumbled back into my arms, weak and exhausted. Leading her away from the sick, I pulled her against me and slid down the wall of the shed where we could both rest.

“Are you cold?” She still hadn't stopped trembling, but she shook her head no to answer.

“'m sorry...” Her voice was so quiet that I could barely even hear, but I could tell that she was trying to apologize, as usual.

“Shh, don't.” There were so many things I wanted to ask, so much that needed to be talked about, but she was clearly not in the right physical or mental state to do so right now. I laid my hand on the side of her face and tucked her head underneath my chin, as if I could shelter her from everything that was troubling her. “Just rest. We'll talk later.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um...pretty sure I forgot to post a chapter last week...I've been doing Whumptober, so I guess my brain is so focused on writing and posting for that it kinda forgot I have other things going. Sorry about that.
> 
> Today's oneshot is a continuation of the last one – Riku's perspective of the very next chapter. When I was writing the last one, I debated whether to continue into chapter 11, but ultimately decided not to even though I was kind of tempted. Then Nevquariel requested that I do so! So here it is...angsty post-birthday panic attack, as told by Riku.

**Chapter 11 ReMix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 11)

_Riku's perspective_

It took a long time before Meli stopped shaking in my arms and I could no longer hear every single breath she drew. My thoughts were in a meaningless whirl for most of that time. _What just happened? Is she okay? What prompted that? Has this happened before?_

Of course I hadn't found an answer to any of those questions by the time she finally pushed herself up off of my chest. I released her reluctantly, watching her closely as she sat up and laid her arms across her propped up knees, afraid that somehow she still wasn't alright and this whole ordeal would start all over again.

Before I could decide whether it was okay to speak, and what in the world I would even say, her lips parted and a barely audible apology came out. An apology. Again. I knew that that idiot Aiden was probably the one who made her feel like she needed to apologize all the time for everything, but sometimes it was frustrating, listening to her say she was sorry for so many things that weren't at all her fault, especially when I tried my hardest each and every day to make her feel loved and important and accepted.

This was one of those times, and I couldn't stop the loud sigh in time. "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry that...you had to see that. I didn't want you to...I never thought..."

She paused, searching for her words, but I could already feel my frustration climbing. _Why can't you think more of yourself? You just went through a literal nightmare, and all you can think of now is to be sorry that I had to see it? Don't you know by now I only care about you? What am I doing wrong, that you still don't get it?_

"I didn't think it would happen...with you. It's usually just a school thing and...a nighttime thing. With you I usually feel safe. So, I didn't think you'd ever have to see it."

And there it was, the confirmation of what I had been fearing over the last half-hour or so. "Are you telling me that this has happened before? More than once?"

She turned her head a little further away from me. "A...a few times. Though this was definitely the worst."

"How many times has it happened?" _Why? Why wouldn't you tell me?_

"Well, it's always different. I mean, sometimes it's just like a mini-version...I don't always completely lose touch with reality, sometimes I just get kinda jumpy, sometimes it's somewhere in between..."

Her rambling was only serving to increase my worry about how long this had been going on, and my anger at myself for not noticing sooner. "How many times?"

She dropped her head down onto her arms, and I wondered for a moment if she was going to answer. "A bunch," she finally mumbled. "Once a week or so to start with, now it's...every couple of days at least."

 _Every couple of days?_ My mind blanked out for a few seconds at that information, then came back full throttle. _All those times at lunch or after school when she was acting weird..._

"And nightmares that wake me up every single night."

_She's been suffering alone for who knows how long, why didn't she tell me? Why would she do this to herself? Nightmares. She knows I have nightmares. We've talked about my nightmares. We promised we would talk about these things, but she lied. Why? Does she not trust me? Is it something I'm doing wrong, that she won't talk to me? Why do I always have to force these things out of her? Why can't she just talk to me?_

My thoughts were such a frantic mess that it was a miracle I was able to keep my voice steady and level when I spoke again. "Meli, why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated automatically, and my false calm was gone.

"I don't want an apology! I want to know why! You promised me that you would tell me about these things, but you've been lying to me ever since. Every time I ask you how you're feeling and you say, 'Fine.' Every time I try to find out what's been going on with you and you tell me it's 'just stress'. It's all been lies!"

I was barely even finished with my tirade when she got to her feet and took off at a quick but stumbling walk across the yard, back toward the house, and I knew immediately that I had screwed up. _Crap._ _Great job, Riku, you're such a great boyfriend. No wonder she doesn't want to talk to you._

"Meli! Meli, wait, don't... I'm sorry!"

She didn't stop, didn't reply, just kept walking until she had disappeared around the side of my house. I let a curse slip out under my breath, directed at myself and the whole situation, never at her, then got up and ran after her. She was still walking, though not back toward her house or the beach, but down some random side street.

Catching up, I cut in front of her and reached out to stop her with my hands on her shoulders. Her arms stayed folded and her chin was down on her chest, but that didn't keep me from seeing the tears that were streaking down her cheeks.

"Meli, I'm sorry. I know you hate it when I raise my voice at you. I didn't mean to, I'm just..." _No good at this. I'm no good at this._ "Come here." I pulled her into me, wrapping my arms around her back, and she let her own arms drop to her sides for a moment before eventually reaching up and grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. "You didn't deserve to be scolded, especially not after what you just went through. It's just...I'm a little shaken, honestly, from seeing that happen to you. And it upsets me to know that you've been going through all of this alone, when I could have been helping you if you had just told me. I'm your boyfriend. That's what I'm here for."

"I really am sorry." Her voice and sniffles were muffled by my chest. "I guess I just...I don't know how. I told you we both sucked at sharing."

"Yeah, but you've been making me do it anyway. This is supposed to be a two-way relationship, remember? That doesn't just mean checking in with me, that also means telling me the truth about yourself."

She nodded. "I know. I've just been so...confused, and embarrassed, and I didn't know what you would do or think, and I kept hoping it would get better and instead it's getting worse. And I've been saying that it was just stress because as far as I know that's what it is, but...I don't know how to fix it."

I wanted to address the part where she said she didn't know what I would do, but I hoped that my actions from now on would speak for themselves. "Well, I don't know what it is, but I don't see how in the world it could just be stress. Were you feeling stressed just now, in there?" I waved a hand in the general direction of my backyard.

Stepping back, she wiped her face with the heel of her hand. "No, but that doesn't mean anything. Stress can affect you for an extended period of time–"

"Stress does not make you collapse on the ground screaming in the middle of a pleasant conversation, and have no idea where you are or who's around you."

Her reddening cheeks and the crack of her voice told me I had been a bit too harsh with that statement. "We don't know that..."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." _Like I said, no good at this. I can't keep letting my anxiety over this affect her._ Absentmindedly, I brushed some hair away from her face. "Where were you, anyway? It was almost like you were having a nightmare, but wide awake."

"Yeah, that...pretty much describes it," she muttered. "Except add in feeling like you're having a heart attack or suffocating or something on top of that." She glanced up at me, then cut her gaze to the ground. "Like I said, though, every time is different. Not every one includes...memories. Sometimes it's just the physical stuff. Kinda generally feeling scared, for no reason."

I made a mental note of all the symptoms she mentioned, resolving to try to look them up as soon as I could. "Memories. Of...being back there?"

Her reaction was answer enough. Gasping a breath that sounded more like a sob, she buried her face in her hands and shook her head back and forth violently. "I can't..."

My heart leapt into my throat, afraid I had accidentally triggered a repeat of the event, and I quickly embraced her again. "Shh, it's okay. I'm sorry. I'm not gonna make you talk about it."

For a few minutes we stayed silent. I listened to her breathing, which stayed steady other than an occasional shudder, and assured myself that she would be alright. _I need to get her mind off of all of this._ "Why don't we go back inside? You can wash your face off if you'd like, and I'll fix your finger, and then we can just rest, maybe watch a movie or something. I can text your family, let them know that you're not feeling well. They'll understand."

It took a moment before there was any kind of response, and when it came it was not at all what I was expecting. Shaking her head slightly, she ducked out from under my arms and walked away, still headed down that same random street. For a second I just watched her, dumbfounded, before calling out.

"Meli, wait! Where are you going?"

"Away."

 _What? What does that mean?_ I started running again, catching up to her quickly and falling into line beside her. "I don't understand. What did I say?" _Now? What did I say now? I thought a distraction and some rest was what she needed._

"Nothing. I just...need to go away."

She wouldn't look at me, and she was acting so strangely. I could tell that something bad was going through her head, but I couldn't even hazard a guess as to what. Speeding up a little, I cut in front of her again, facing her. "Why? Don't do this again. Don't hide what you're feeling. Tell me what's going on."

To my chagrin, she stepped around me and kept going. "I don't want you to feel like you have to take care of me."

 _Okay, well, at least she's talking while she's running away._ "I don't 'feel like I have to'. I want to."

"Why, because I'm your girlfriend? I'm fine. I don't need to be taken care of."

I narrowed my eyes at her retreating form. _So I insulted her by offering my help?_ That was definitely something we needed to talk about, but maybe not right now. Breaking into a jog once more, I got beside her again. "Okay, fine. If you don't want me to take care of you, I won't. We can just go back to the party, or whatever you want."

She stopped so suddenly that I ended up a couple of steps in front of her. When I turned to face her, she was finally making eye contact, but it didn't last long. Her red, swollen eyes cut away and settled somewhere in the area of my collarbone, and her fists were clenched by her sides. "You don't have to come with me. You need to just...let me go."

 _I need to...wait, what?_ The realization of what she was saying hit me like a punch to the gut. "Are you...trying to break up with me?" _Did I really screw up that badly? She can't really mean...surely we can fix this...I know I can do better..._

She shut her eyes and tightened her jaw. "No, I...I couldn't." That sent relief flooding through me, but her next sentence threw me for a loop again. "I'm...just trying to make it easier for you to break up with me."

"What? Why would I do that?" She was walking away again, and I was getting really tired of this whole chasing game. I knew that she was upset and overwhelmed, but for once today, I just wanted to have an honest, open conversation without having to guess what she was thinking. Snatching her hand up, I planted my feet and held on tight, refusing to let her get away. "Would you please stop? Stop walking away, and let's just talk. Why would you think that I would want to break up with you?"

"Because I'm not the girl you fell in love with. That girl is gone, and neither of us know whether she can ever come back. All that's left of me now is this...mess that I've become, and you're way too good a person to be tied down to that. I know you, and you'd never say any of this yourself, so I'm saying it for you. I'm damaged goods, probably a hopeless cause. You should leave me now, and save yourself the trouble." The last thing she said came out as little more than a whisper. "I'll be okay, as long as I know that you're happy."

I had wanted to stop her at least half a dozen times during all of that, but she was finally talking so I let her say her piece. When she was done, though, I acted swiftly, coming around in front of her and grasping her face in my hands, tipping it up so that she could see the honesty in my face. "First of all, you are not damaged goods. You're not any kind of goods, you're a person. That person is who I fell in love with, and people change. It's just a part of life. Did I love your personality back then? Yes. Do I still love your personality now? Yes. I'm not the same as when you first met me either, am I?"

"No," she whispered.

"But I take it that you still love me, right?" When she nodded, I smiled, and brushed away a tear from her cheek with my thumb. "Good. So I don't want to hear anymore about 'that girl', because you are still her where it really matters." _Passionate. Stubborn. Adorable. Maybe one of these days I'll make her a list._ "And I don't want you calling yourself a hopeless cause, either. Can whatever this is be fixed? I don't know. For your sake I hope so, of course. But even if it can't, we'll get through it. Together. Because if you really want me to be happy, then you might as well just get used to the fact that I'm gonna be with you for a long time."

Loving Meli wasn't easy, had never been easy, and today I had learned that it was probably going to get even harder. But I couldn't imagine myself ever being this happy with anyone else.

The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly, her wet cheeks shining in the waning sunlight. "Okay." It wasn't much, but it was enough. I could tell that, at least for now, she was at peace with her place in my heart.

"Now...did you want to go for that movie I mentioned, or would you rather go back to your house? Or..." Moving my hands from her face down to her shoulders, I shot a dubious look down the road we had been traveling. "Keep going wherever it is you were going?"

She practically collapsed against my chest, clearly exhausted. "I think a movie sounds nice."

I smiled into her hair, then bent over and scooped her up into my arms. Her forehead was pleasantly warm beneath my lips when I kissed it. "Alright, Sunshine. A movie it is."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knoooooowwww I missed a week again. Whumptober is almost over and then maybe my brain will go back to normal.
> 
> Not that anyone left any comments on the last two chapters anyway...
> 
> Since today's oneshot is not a request, I guess I can technically say this is "the Lea's perspective that nobody asked for". Every time I write from a different characters POV, particularly that of a canon character, it's a new challenge. I had fun with Lea! In fact I think this chapter may have turned out to be one of my favs. Even though whenever I decide to write one of these in third person I always end up switching back automatically to first person like fifty times and have to go back and fix it lol. 
> 
> This chapter takes place while Meli is in the training world with Lea and Kairi. You'll recognize it several paragraphs in.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING for this chapter...brief mention of suicidal thoughts.

**Chapter 28 ReMix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 28)

_Lea's perspective_

_Blah blah blah blah connect to your heart, feel it in your fingers, channel through your Keyblade, blah blah blah._ It had been the same spiel for like, forever, not only today, but every time he tried to learn one of these fancy-schmancy magic things, and he was getting so tired of hearing it. Sure, maybe it worked for like, basic stuff, like Blizzard and whatever, but clearly it was not working today, and clearly Meli was not getting that it was not working today. Sometimes the girl just didn't know when to give up. Him? He was cool with giving up. He could tell when something was just not going to click, at least not right away. It was far better to give up, take a break, come back to it another day, than to push himself to the point of explosion, which he was currently very close to reaching.

He had tried to tell her that, like, twenty minutes ago, at least. But of course, she had just interpreted that to mean that he was being lazy and not trying hard enough. Which, granted, he was a pretty lazy person most of the time, and had tried to get out of quite a few training sessions over the past several weeks in a variety of ways. So, touché. Guess he asked for that one. And knowing her, and her – should he go so far as to say hatred? – let's stick with intense dislike for him, she probably thought that he wasn't getting it now because he was still trying to get out of doing it.

"Again."

Sucking in a breath through his teeth to try to squelch his rising frustration, he set his face and started the sequence from the beginning...and failed, again. In the exact same way that he had failed every other time. Meli crossed her arms, looking thoroughly ticked off, and he turned his back on her, head tipped back toward the sky as he put some space in between them.

_I swear, if I hear the word "connect" one more time..._

"You're still not connecting your heart with your Keyblade."

 _That's it._ Throwing his arms out to the side, he let the flames that had been simmering beneath his skin burst out with a roar. He didn't pay much attention to the size of it, but knew just based on the amount of tension that went into it that it was a veritable inferno. Only a few seconds later, he let it die out to nothing, already feeling so much calmer.

Well, until Meli yelled, "What the crap, Axel?" and he turned around to see that the cabin they had been living in was on fire. He swore, wide-eyed and stunned. _I just set our cabin on fire._

It's not like he hadn't seen plenty of fire in his life. He was "The Flurry of Dancing Flames", for crying out loud. And, you know, there was that time he had kinda killed himself with a little too much fire. But he hadn't ever accidentally set anything on fire before. Okay, fine, not in a long time, anyway. Not since he first got the ability. Whatever, he hadn't ever accidentally set something important on fire before. Like their temporary home, with all their stuff inside.

Meli had rushed forward and was shooting ice all over the roof of the cabin. He knew he should be helping, but she was using like, third tier magic, and his pitiful first tier would have basically amounted to throwing snowballs at it. Even her Blizzarga or whatever the heck it was called didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of good – the fire was moving much too fast for her to keep up with.

"I'll be right back. You stay here, and cast Blizzard at anything that gets past the cabin!"

He nodded without thinking, then did a double-take as she took off running through the open door, into the burning building. "Wait...Meli! What the...?" _Is there really anything in there that's important enough to go after? I mean, I hate for her and Kairi to lose their stuff, but..._ And how was he supposed to actually stop this thing from turning into a forest fire? Did she really think Blizzard was gonna do the trick?

Apparently he was about to find out, because flaming chips of wood were starting to fly off the building and land in the grass around it. Thankfully it was nothing too big so far, so his spells actually worked to put them out. He focused solely on that, determined not to let his mess turn into an actual complete disaster.

After a couple of minutes, though, Meli crossed his mind again. Surely she should have been back by then. More and more of the cabin was getting engulfed by the second, and he didn't like thinking about what could have happened or what might happen very very soon if she didn't get out of there. He rocked back and forth from one foot to the other, antsy to go find her, but not wanting to neglect his duty to keep the fire from spreading. _If something else catches while I'm in there, she could put it out once I bring her back, right? If she's okay, that is. And of course if she's perfectly okay and I go get her and something catches on fire then she's gonna be mad at me. Not that she's not already._

He was still undecided when a large chunk of the roof cracked and gave in. Then he didn't even need to decide. His feet were moving as fast as they could go before the last piece even fell. _Forget this, I'm not letting anybody else die from my mistakes._

The smoke inside was like trying to see through fogged up glass, but as he crossed through the front part of the cabin that had belonged to him, he spotted her silhouette just on the other side of the doorway. She was just...standing there. "What are you doing? Come on!" He raised his voice to be heard over the fire, latching onto her wrist and yanking her back toward safety.

It was just in the nick of time, too, because as soon as they were out the door, the rest of the roof collapsed. Meli dropped down to her hands and knees in the grass, letting out painful-sounding hacks, and he crossed quickly behind her to beat out the tiny flames and glowing embers that dotted the upper back and sleeves of her shirt. The skin that was visible through the holes left behind was bright red and swollen. After a moment she tried to pull away, but he gave one last pat for good measure before leaving her alone.

Coughing a bit himself, he allowed himself to drop down onto the ground, still facing the cabin so he could keep an eye on things trying to escape. Despite feeling suddenly exhausted, he was still unnerved at the way he had found Meli. "Have you lost your mind? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Yes."

He almost choked. "Wait...yes to which one?"

"Possibly both."

 _Possibly...what?_ It wasn't that he didn't know the chick had issues, that much was pretty clear, though he had no idea what exactly her issues were or where they had come from. But he hadn't thought...did she really want...? He watched her pick up what looked like a photo from the pile of stuff she had dropped on the ground and stare at it like it was the only thing that existed in the world, and wondered not for the first time what kinds of things really went through this girl's head.

She glanced up at him, finally, coughing once more, though thankfully without sounding like she was dying this time. "So what was your excuse? Because last time I checked I wasn't the only one in there."

 _Seriously?_ He groaned and massaged his forehead against the headache he could feel encroaching. "I went in there to save your neck, you idiot!"

"I didn't ask you to save me," she hissed.

"Well, yeah, clearly not, since you were apparently trying to die!" She flinched a little at that, and he sighed, standing up. "If it makes you feel any better, my reasons were purely selfish. I was the one who started the fire, and I...couldn't stand having any more deaths on my conscience."

She didn't answer. Of course she didn't. He wasn't sure why he bothered trying to open up to her, even a little bit, when she was never going to do the same to him. Not that he should take that part personally, since he was pretty sure she didn't open up to anybody. Maybe Riku, from what he had heard. But Riku wasn't there.

She was still sitting on the ground with that picture in her hands when he turned back to look at her. "Are you at least gonna heal those burns?" The most visible one on her arm didn't look quite as bad as the ones on her back, but it certainly didn't look good. "I'd do it myself, but you know I still suck at Cure."

"They're not that bad."

 _Not that...really? Okay, we're apparently going there. "_ Come on, don't do that."

"Do what?" She clearly wasn't happy with him for trying to tell her what to do, but somebody needed to intervene.

"Punish yourself for who knows what crime you feel like you've committed. I've been there. I know how it works, and it's pointless." The fact that the memories were still painful was one proof of that.

The look that she leveled at him was pure wrath. "You don't know anything about me."

"That's because you won't let me! You don't know anything about me, either, yet you've apparently decided I'm evil."

"I know plenty."

He scoffed and turned away. "Okay, whatever. You know, maybe if you tried sleeping a little more instead of sneaking out every night, you wouldn't feel the need to stand in a burning building. See, I do know more about you than you think."

They were saved from further conversation by the arrival of Kairi, which also forced Meli to have to actually heal herself, much to his relief. He didn't know why he even cared. It was his fire, yeah, but that wasn't really what he was worried about then. He just...didn't like seeing someone else hurting themselves like that, especially somebody who probably hadn't actually done anything to deserve it. Apparently the girl's issues ran deeper than he thought. In a way that kinda made him feel better, since that meant it wasn't just him that was the problem. But really, he just hoped that at some point she'd actually let somebody help her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently updating this only every couple of weeks is just...gonna be a thing now. 
> 
> This week is a request from DyingofFeels. They originally mentioned in a review that they hoped we got to see Kairi and Zephyr meet. Of course no one knew at that point what I was going to do to poor Zeph...and I actually didn't intend at the time for the two of them to ever meet. But I realized that there actually was an opportunity for them to do so, and promised to write a oneshot about it. I wasn't really sure where to go with it after a while so the ending may be a little awkward, but...meh.

**Chapter 39.5**

(Takes place in the middle of chapter 39)

_Kairi's perspective_

When Kairi finally walked through Merlin's magic door and back into the real world for the first time in months, her mind was thoroughly preoccupied with thoughts of the coming war. After all, that's what they had spent all this time training for, and why Merlin was finally letting them leave. Master Yen Sid had called for everyone to convene at his tower, which meant that the battle would probably be starting very soon. She thought she was ready. She hoped she was ready. If she wasn't ready, then she or her friends could pay for it with their lives, and she would never forgive herself if one of them died or even got hurt because of her inexperience. But she and Lea had both come a really long way since they first entered the training world, and Merlin seemed pleased with where they were, so she was going to choose to believe that everything was going to be okay.

She was so lost in these solemn thoughts that the last thing she expected to see walking into Merlin's cottage was one of her very best friends standing there. Her face lit up and she broke into a run, skirting past two of the strangers in the room and throwing her arms around his neck. "Sora!"

Nearly losing his balance, he waved his arms around awkwardly as if unsure what to do with them. She could hear him sputtering in her ear. And okay, maybe she was being a little forward here, but it wasn't like they'd never hugged before. It always took him a few seconds to get over his embarrassment in moments like this and actually hug her back.

"Sora, I'm so glad you're here! I didn't expect to see you until we got to the tower. I've missed you so much!"

"Err...um...I...uh..."

Kairi flushed a little as she realized how uncomfortable she was obviously making him, and released him to step back. It hurt a little, that he wasn't okay with something as simple as a hug after they had been apart for so long, but she wasn't going to push him. Cutting her eyes to the side, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "Um, anyway...it really is good to see you again. I know it hasn't felt like as long for you as it has for me, but..."

When she glanced back up at him, he was still just standing there, gaping. _Maybe he's just really surprised to see me? Maybe it's my haircut._ She didn't really expect him to even notice that right away. But speaking of which... "Did you cut your hair? That's a dumb question, obviously you cut your hair." It was much, much shorter than she had ever seen it before, with no more spikes at all. "It's just surprising, you've had basically the same hairstyle for as long as I can remember." She couldn't decide whether she liked it or not. He was still cute, obviously, but she kind of missed the spikes. One hand reached out, almost of its own volition, wanting to run its fingers through the short locks, but she managed to stop it before it actually reached his head and yanked it back into herself.

He just continued to stare at her like she had grown a moustache in his absence. "I..."

A new figure appeared beside them, and Kairi looked over to find the tall brunette girl that she had nearly shoved past earlier in her eagerness to get to Sora. The girl smiled, looking almost embarrassed, and laid a gentle hand on both of their shoulders. Her gaze flicked back and forth between them. "So, um...did Meli happen to mention the whole...doppelganger situation?"

_Doppelganger? What does that have to do with this...? Oh. Oh no. Please don't tell me..._

"She mentioned that she had a twin sister...?" the boy who she was no longer sure was Sora mumbled.

The girl smiled that awkward, embarrassed smile again. "Right. So...Zephyr, meet Kairi. Kairi, Zephyr."

Kairi's face had gone completely red, a matching shade to Zephyr's neck and ears. Opening her mouth, she tried to come up with something to say in response, but came up blank.

"It's an honest mistake that anyone would make," the girl was quick to soothe. "In fact, we all thought he was Sora when he first came here, too. It took us quite a while to sort everything out."

"Yeah, it did." Zephyr smiled now, too, and shrugged. "Didn't help that Mel just kinda dumped me off here with no warning about the whole doppelganger thing. So, um...you're her sister?"

Shaking herself out of her shocked state, Kairi nodded and scrunched her dress up in her hands. "Um, yeah. Well, uh, technically I'm her doppelganger, actually, but to everyone else we're twins."

"Oh right, that makes sense." He nodded, then paused and scrunched his face up. "I think."

Kairi couldn't help but laugh. He really did look just like Sora, right down to his facial expressions. "Yeah, it's all pretty confusing. I think Meli is the only one who can actually fully keep up. Maybe one day we'll all meet each other, then it will all make sense."

Zephyr grinned brightly. "That would be fun! I'd like to meet the other me some day!"

"I know he'd love to meet you, too. Just, um..." She clasped her hands behind her back and ground the ball of her shoe into the floor. "Don't tell him I thought you were him, alright?"

"Hm..." He struck a familiar pose, obviously making a big deal out of having to think it over. "Oh, okay. I guess I can do that."

She smirked. "Thanks."

"Hey Princess," Lea called from the doorway of the house. "We better get a move on."

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Zephyr cocked an eyebrow in Lea's direction, then turned his attention back to Kairi. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Her eyes blew wide open. "What? No! No no no no no. Nothing like that. Lea's just a...a friend." The thought of Lea as a boyfriend...she wasn't sure whether to laugh or shudder. He was a great guy. Just...not her type. At all. "Anyway, I better go, I guess. It was really nice to meet you, Zephyr."

"Nice to meet you, too, Kairi. Hey, if you see your sister, remind her that she owes me a visit."

Kairi had already started backing away toward the door, but she stopped then and frowned. "Hey Zephyr...how did she seem? When you saw her?"

"Mel? Um..." He twisted his lips in thought. "Mostly okay. She seemed...stressed. I guess that's the best word for it. But, you know, she was going through some pretty stressful stuff at the time. Lots of bad guys out there. Apparently she thought I'd be safer here." He shrugged, not seeming too happy about being left behind.

Kairi nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. I hope she's okay. Thanks, Zephyr."

He gave a little wave. "See you again soon?"

"Yeah, I hope so!" she smiled, waving back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you missed it on my Tumblr...I'm putting together a playlist for the series, and have just requested input from you guys. So send those song ideas my way! Also, if you have a Tumblr and want to be added to my tag list for DoD updates, let me know.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy I'm still alive! I always forget this poor fic exists, but here I am, finally updating it. 
> 
> For those of you who aren't following me on Tumblr to get the updates, the third book in the series (titled Memory's Echo) is still in the works. I'm currently working on chapter 37, and there should be only a few more chapters left. Then I'll start editing. I definitely recommend checking out my tumblr (actress4Him), even if you dont' have one yourself, because not only do I post updates every time I finish a chapter, I also post little sneak peeks of each chapter and lots of other fun, series-related content.
> 
> Okay, so for today's chapter, we have Lea's perspective of his and Meli's interactions in Yen Sid's tower, right after the boys' test ended and his Keyblade was revealed. And, you know, he tried flirting with her and she threatened his life. Fun times. Requested by Nevquariel!

**Chapter 24 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 24)

_Lea's perspective_

_I always thought you were pretty cute, just throwing that out there? Really, Lea?_ Man, I was out of practice. I mean, the fact that she already had a boyfriend and hated my guts didn't help matters. But how was I supposed to know they were dating? It's not like they had kissed in my presence or anything. Well, there was the whole watching-over-his-unconscious-body thing, but that could definitely be interpreted as just friends, right? _Let's face it, I haven't had a heart for ten years. Interpreting other people's emotions is probably gonna be a little iffy for a while._

The old man was droning on about how I needed to go train in Radiant Garden – like, yay, I was so looking forward to going back to the world full of unwanted memories of my former life – but I couldn't help but notice Meli slipping away from her boyfriend and out the door. Automatically I wanted to follow her. Just, you know, to make sure there was no confusion between us. Attempting to flirt with her was obviously not the solution to fixing whatever issue she was determined to have with me, but maybe I could still smooth things over. I nodded along to the old man's speech absentmindedly until I was sure he was about done, then excused myself.

I decided if I were her, I would be getting some fresh air – seeing as how I kinda needed some myself at the moment – and found her pretty quickly sitting on a little balcony down the hall. “Knock knock,” I called, sticking my head out. “Mind if I join you?”

She groaned and turned away from me. “You don't take hints very well, do you?”

“What, that you don't like me very much? No, I got that.” I had a feeling an invitation wasn't gonna be coming, so I made myself at home anyway, leaning onto the railing to look out over the sea. “That's why I came out here, in fact. I think I, uh...started off on the wrong foot, so I thought I'd give a try at starting over.”

“Why are you obsessing over being on good terms with me, in particular? You're not acting like this with anyone else. Still because I'm 'cute'?”

My cheeks heated a bit, and I turned quickly to find her glaring at me. “No, I just...” _Why am I acting like this?_ “I can't say that I enjoy being hated by anyone. Call me sensitive, that's what having a heart will do to you, I guess. But the rest of them don't seem to hate me as much as you do, despite who I was in the past. Is that just because of somebody I look like?”

“You kidnapped my sister.”

_Kidnapped?_ There was only one person I had ever kidnapped, so there was no question of who, but... “Your sist–?” Releasing the breath that I had sucked in at her accusation, I dropped my head down onto my arms. “Of course she's your sister. The identical faces should have clued me in, I guess.” _Way to go, Axel. Way to ruin a potential friendship before it even had a chance to start._ I wasn't gonna even let myself start thinking about having to meet Kairi at some point in the near future.

“Listen, all I really came out here to say was, sorry for, um...whatever I was attempting in there. And, you know, thanks for jumping in to take care of Saix earlier. Not that I couldn't handle him myself, but it was still, you know, cool of you. And it was a pretty impressive fight, too. I mean, he wasn't in berserk mode or anything, but...have you seen his berserk mode? It's ridiculous. If it wasn't so freakin' scary I'd definitely make fun of him for it.”

“Please shut up,” I barely heard her mumble.

“Yeah, sorry, I got a little off topic there –” _and you're clearly still not my biggest fan_ –“but I'm just saying, it was pretty impressive. Not many people can take on Saix like that.”

“Shut up!”

She had gone from a mumble to a pained scream, and I whipped around to face her. She hadn't moved from her spot on the floor, but she was doubled over, her face nearly in her lap, hands clasped over her ears and tears shining on her cheeks. _What the...? I didn't think my rambling was that bad._

“Why? Why is he alive?” I could hardly understand the words that were grinding their way out of her throat. “I wasn't ever supposed to have to see him again. I watched him die, so why...is he not dead?”

_The heck is she talking about? Or talking to, even?_ I had a distinct feeling it wasn't me. Who did she want dead? I didn't think she hated me quite that much, but wouldn't have necessarily put it past her after her little speech in the study earlier. Regardless, she was now rocking erratically and gasping like a fish out of water, so I kinda figured it was time to pass this whole freak out situation off to a professional.

“I'm just gonna...um...go get Riku.” I exited the balcony as quickly as possible, not even bothering to close the door behind me, and jogged back down the hall to the old man's study. Peeking my head inside, I saw that not much had changed in my absence. Riku, thankfully, was right there in front of me, and looked my way when I appeared.

“Hey, uh...I think I...” I had no idea what I had done, or even if it was actually my fault, so how in the world did I explain this? “...broke your girlfriend.”

His eyes widened. “What?” Before I could even explain, he was moving, pushing past me into the hallway.

“That way.” I motioned toward the still-open balcony door. “I don't know what happened, we were just talking and then she...” He wasn't listening to me. He was already gone, having run at full speed to his girlfriend's rescue. “Yeah. Okay. I have no idea what is happening here, but don't mind me.”

Creeping toward the door, I leaned in just close enough to be able to catch a glimpse of the two of them. Riku was sitting on the floor right in front of Meli. It almost seemed like he was coaching her through some kind of breathing technique, which she seemed to be struggling to follow. The door had been pushed mostly shut, but every once in a while I could hear a low murmur of voices, Meli's sounding teary and choked up and like she might have been apologizing, and Riku's ever calm and patient. Eventually I backed away. I felt bad for her, even though I still had no idea what her problem was, but they were kinda sweet together. I could definitely see it now, that the two of them worked.

It took a long time for either of them to emerge again. I went back to the office, assured Sora and Kairi that Meli was fine – as far as I knew – and hung around for a little bit semi-participating in conversation before I eventually slipped out again, wondering if everything actually was okay. This time I could see them from a bit further away, since they had moved to a different part of the balcony to sit, and Meli seemed to have calmed down. She was at least talking in what looked like a normal way, no tears or anything. Satisfied, I was turning to leave when the door opened.

“Hey!” Riku was rushing toward me before I knew what was happening, a look of fury on his face. “You!”

Startled, I ran backwards a few steps, but he was right up in my face an instant later, laying an arm across my chest and slamming my back up against the wall. The dude was like a foot shorter than me, and I could have fought him off easily, but he was clearly already mad at me – probably on his girlfriend's behalf – and I wasn't looking to make enemies of any of these people.

“What did you do to her?”

“Nothing! We were just talking, I swear!”

“About what?”

_Good question. What were we talking about?_ “I just told her thank you for earlier, you know, for taking on Sa–”

“Shut up!” He pressed me even further into the wall until I was sure I would have the imprint of his arm across my ribs. Apparently I had hit the nail on the head somewhere in there, but I was still clueless as to what the nail even was.

His free hand came up to point at my face. “If you ever say that name in her presence again, I swear that I will fold you five ways and feed you to a Darkside. Are we clear?”

“Grim.” I glanced up to see Meli standing there with her hands gripping her elbows, watching the whole exchange. She still looked like a mess, honestly. Looked like she needed a good nap and maybe something stiff to drink, the latter of which I was starting to feel, myself. _How many times am I gonna get threatened by short people today? And...Saix? That's what this is about? What the heck...?_

Riku appeared to have been properly chastised by just that one word from her – _somebody is whipped –_ but that didn't stop him from giving me one last dirty look and shove before he finally let me go and returned to her side.

I didn't bother to stick around after that. In the hall, or at the tower at all. It had been one long, crazy, hectic, freakin' weird day, and I had had quite enough of all of these Keyblade wielders and their issues for a while. Holing up in Radiant Garden by myself to do some training was honestly sounding better and better.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaddya know, I updated two weeks in a row! Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this is the last of these I have for now. Good news is, I'm a couple of chapters away from finishing the first draft of Memory's Echo! So it shouldn't be too much longer before I'm back posting that.
> 
> Anyway, here's a Riku's perspective of Meli's stalker-ish phone call right before the final battle.

**Chapter 40 ReMix**

_(Runs parallel to chapter 40)_

Riku's perspective

“But I'm not done yet. Got one last thing to see through.”

For a moment I watched as my replica stared out across the ocean, recognizing the determination in the set of his jaw. I huffed a small laugh. “Take the time you need.”

Silence fell over the beach, but it didn't last for long before a shrill ringing pierced through the air. Jolting out of my thoughts, I glanced over at the now empty stretch of sand where he had been sitting as I pulled my phone from my pocket. Any part of my mind that was still lingering on my replica, however, was quickly forgotten about when I saw the name on the screen. I punched the green button as fast as I could and brought the phone up to my ear.

“Meli.” There was no keeping the relief to hear from her out of my voice. There were so many things that I needed to say to her, but now I couldn't seem to think of how to say any of them. “You uh...you got your phone.” _Duh. Reward for most obvious statement of the year goes to Riku._

“Yeah.” It was so good to hear her voice again. We had been apart far too much recently. “I...I'm sorry about yesterday. I hate fighting with you.”

“Yeah...I hate it, too.” And I hated that the way she said that made it obvious that nothing had changed with her since then. I couldn't apologize for wanting her to come back to the light, for being upset with her for what she had done to herself, but... “I'm sorry, too, if I...said things I shouldn't have...made you upset. I really...I'm really just worried about what's going to happen to you. You know that, right?”

A long moment passed where she said nothing, and I shut my eyes, drawing in a breath and being careful not to let the sigh that wanted to follow escape into the phone's speaker. I missed the days where she and I trusted each other implicitly and knew exactly what was going through the other's head. _When exactly did those days end?_

“Did you go see your mom today?” she asked finally, and I tried not to clench my teeth in aggravation at the subject change. Instead, I changed my position, bringing both knees up and draping my free arm over them.

“Mm-hm. We all spent the afternoon with our parents. Your uh...” I didn't want to guilt her, but at the same time, maybe a little guilt would do her some good. “Your mom and dad were asking about you, Kairi said.”

“Oh.” Another long pause. “Yeah, I should...call them...I guess.”

“I know they'd love to hear from you.” A thought crossed my mind, and I frowned out at the sunset. “How did you know I would go see my mom today?”

“Oh, um...well, you know, I had to go to Yen Sid's to pick up the phone...”

“Oh. He mentioned where we were?” I tried not to think about the fact that she sounded like she was lying.

“He said he was giving everyone the rest of the day off. I figured the rest out.”

_But you didn't bother to come home yourself._ “You know, you could have come with us. Still could, since I know you can be here in two seconds flat.” _Maybe an invitation is all she needs._

I shouldn't have bothered to get my hopes up. “You guys needs some peace for once,” she said after a sigh. “My presence doesn't exactly promote that right now.”

“Even if I promise not to fight with you?” This time I let my sigh be heard, too. “I really just want you sitting next to me right now.” My arms ached with the need to hold her. “Everything else can wait until another time.”

“I'm sorry. I can't right now. Tell the others I said hi, though, okay?”

The last of my hope sank down into the pit of my stomach. Nodding slightly, I massaged my forehead with one hand. “Yeah, okay.”

Something made me glance up at the upper part of the island where Sora and Kairi had been sitting ever since we arrived, and it was just in time to see the two of them holding something large and star-shaped out to each other. I straightened up suddenly with a grunt of surprise. “Are they...? Meli, I think they just shared a paopu.”

“Those two...they actually did it.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I can't believe it.”

“It's about time.” After all, it wasn't like they had been crushing on each other for years now, and trying their best to ignore all of mine and Meli's attempts to shove them toward one another. Oh wait, it was exactly like that.

“How come we've never shared a paopu?”

My automatic response was to huff out a laugh. “I don't know. I guess because we're not hopeless romantics like the two of them? I figured you thought it was stupid.” I had always kinda thought it was stupid, myself...cute, maybe, but not overly important in an actual relationship.

“Yeah, I mean...I do, I guess.” Something in her tone grabbed my attention. “You're right, it's pretty silly.” The second time she had lied during this conversation. “Good for them, though.”

_Uh-oh._ Had I messed up? Had she been wanting us to share one this whole time and I had just never noticed? “Do you –?”

She spoke over me before I could finish my question. “I, um...I should go. I just wanted to let you know that...I'll be there tomorrow. At the final battle. I'm very ready to kick some Organization butt, so...I'll see you there.”

I really hadn't expected anything less, even though the thought of her using the darkness and fighting the Organization terrified me. “Okay. I...I'll see you there.” I scratched the back of my head, debating my next words. “Um, Meli...?”

“Yeah?”

“Just...” I dropped my hand to the side and dug my fingers into the sand. “Just be careful. That's all.”

I almost didn't hear her agreement over the sound of yelping and a burst of laughter from up above me. Snapping my attention up to the paopu tree, I caught the tail end of Sora falling to the ground quite dramatically, kicking up sand everywhere.

Meli laughed, and my heart skipped a beat at the sound. “Can't promise anything for that dork, though.”

I couldn't help but laugh, too, forgetting for an instant that she wasn't actually sitting by my side. But the implication caught up with me a second later, and my breath hitched. “Wait, are you...?” _She can't be. She wouldn't...would she?_ I twisted around to face the center of the play island, eyes flitting desperately over the shack, the walkways, the path to the Secret Place...

“Love you, Grim.”

The phone went silent, but over the crashing of the waves I could just barely hear the distinct sound of a dark corridor opening. Whipping my head around to find the source, I glimpsed a split-second of Meli's face, staring straight at me, before she was engulfed by the black and purple smoke.

Growling in frustration, I slammed a fist down onto the sand. _Seriously? What the heck, Meli? Why would you...?_ I collapsed onto my back, throwing my arm across my eyes and drawing in deep, deliberate breaths through my nose to calm myself. _When did everything go wrong? What did I do that she doesn't trust me anymore? That she'd rather run to the darkness than to me?_ I scrunched my face up against the pain that that thought caused.

If only we had more time...if only we weren't marching off to war the very next day. She and I needed time to figure all of this out, to work through whatever this was without Heartless and psychopaths getting in our way. But time was a commodity that we just didn't have right now. Mine and Meli's problems were just going to have to wait. _Once this is all over...I'll bring you back to me. Whatever it takes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to find me on Tumblr @actress4Him for writing updates and other fun content. Also, if you're not into Tumblr, you can check out my Instagram, also @actress4Him. No sneak peeks/updates on there, but a lot of the other series-related stuff I post on my Tumblr like mood boards, picrews, etc gets posted there, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on my new tumblr - actress4Him - and get updates about how book 3 is coming! So far there's a title reveal, a couple of sneak peeks, and other fun stuff related to the series on there! Just go to my page and search for the tag "daughter of darkness fic".


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